Safe guard



March 13, 1934. BEACH ET AL SAFE GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8,1932 gmewtom/ //enr Bede/2 17/127? ll Jcbailer Patented Mar. 13,

nurrso s'rArss PATENT OFFICE Application August 8, 1932, Serial No.627,954 1 9 Claims.

This invention relates to a safe guard for bank windows, post officewindows or the like, and has for an object to provide a safe guardpreventing the possibility of the banker or post office clerk being heldup by a robber on the other side of the window. 1

It is a further object of this invention to provide a safe guard whichcan be instantly placed into operation so as to prevent the possibilityof bullets coming through the usual opening and striking the clerk.

A further object of this invention is to provide a safe guard which maybe operated either by the clerk from a concealed trip near the floor outof sight of the would be robber, or by a person at a convenient distancefrom the Window who is out of range of the would be robber.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a safe guardwhich may be'used at as 3 many windows as desirable and may be operatedsimultaneously at all windows to form an impenetrable bullet shieldbetween the clerks and the would be robber.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a protectedopening in the shield whereby the clerk may shoot through the shieldafter it has been operated without exposing himself to the sight of thewould be robber. With the foregoing and other objects in view, as willhereinafter become apparent, this invention comprises the constructions,combinations, and arrangements of parts, hereinafter set forth, claimed,and disclosed on the accompanying drawings. In these drawings,

Figure 1 is an elevation view of a bank window with the safe guard inopen position.

Figure 2 is a similar view with the safe guard in closed position.

Figure 3 is a rear view of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a rear view of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the lower section of Figure 3 showingthe operating mechanism.

Figure 6 is a top view of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a top view of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a vertical end view of the bank window with the shieldsopen.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 with the shields closed.

Figure 10 is a detail view showing the crank handle in operativeposition.

Figure 10' is a top view of the lower half of Figure 10.

Figure 11 is a viewon the left side of Fig- Figure 12 is a section online 1212 of Figure 11.

Figure 13 is a top view of the window ledge showing the crank attachingclip holder in dotted outline.

Figure 13 is an edge view of Figure 13.

Figure 14 is a detail showing how the various ropes are attached.

Figure 15is a section on line 1515 of Figure 5.

Figure 16 is a sectional view of the safe guard release.

Figure 17 is a top view of Figure 16.

Figure 18 is a side View of the remote foot control for the safe guard.

Figure 19 is an elevation view of the gun hole and cover.

Figure 20 is a section through Figure 19. Figure 21 is a side view ofthe pulley fitting, and

Figure 22 is a perspective view of the operating mechanism.

There is shown at 25 the frame work of a bank window of a cashiers orbank clerks cage, the frame 25 being preferably made of steel, or otherbullet proof material, and should preferably extend from the floor tothe ceiling. Extending down from the counter ledge 26 is a steelpartition 27 and extending upwardly from the top of the grill 28 isanother steel partition 29, the grill 28 having the usual raisable grillsection 30 so that it may be opened to pass larger bundles therethroughwhen necessary in the course of business, the open portion of the grillsection being shown at 30 in dotted outline in Figure 1,

and the raised portion of grill section 30 being received within thepartition 29.

As will be apparent, the cashier will be completely protected by thesteel frame work and partitions, except for the space between thecounter 26 and top of grill 28, and this invention particularly suppliesmeans for providing instantaneous protection for this otherwise exposedportion in time of emergency, which the cashier himself or some one elseat a distance may operate without the operation being visible to thedesperado outside the cashiers window. The exposed 1 0 The lowerpartition 31 is connected to the upper partition 32 by a cable 3'?operating over pulley 38 which is rotatably affixed to within the hollowframework 25, as shown in Figure 21. By 5 this connection, the droppingof the upper partition 32 will raise the lower partition 31, and viceversa, the dropping of the lower partition will raise the upperpartition.

The partitions 31 and 32 being of substantially equal size, will also beof substantially equal weight, and hence each partition will balance theother, thus causing both partitions to remain in any set position.

Extraneous means are provided for moving the partitions together to theprotecting positions and for separating them again to return thecashiers window to its normal open position. A weight 39 connected by acable 40 and operating over pulley 41 is connected to the top of lowerpartition 31 as by the eye 42, there being a weight 39 on each side ofthe partition, thus balancing the opposite sides of the partitions, andcausing them to operate smoothly. As will be seen in Figure 8 thepartitions travel up and down in the tracks 43 formed in framework 25,and ledges 44 are affixed to the tops and bottoms of each partition.

The weights 39 thus tend to raise the lower partition 31, thuspermitting the upper partition 32 to fall at the same time, and meet inthe posiaottion shown in Figures 2 and 4.

Means are provided for holding the partitions in separated position andfor releasing them to allow them to come together to the protectiveposition. A pawl 45, sharpened as at 46, bears "against the lowerpartition 31 as shown in Figure 16, and slides in an arm 47 aifixed toframework 25, a tension spring 48 tending to keep the pawl 45 hearingagainst the ledge 44 of partition 31. A lever 49 is afiixed to pawl 45through pin 50, and the lever 49 is operated to withdraw pawl againstthe tension of spring 48 by means of a rod 51 rotatably afiixed tobrackets 52.

A foot pedal 53 is connected by levers 54 to rotate rod 51 and thus trippawl 45 and release the 45rpartitions to the protective position. Whenthe cashier is attacked, he has only to kick his foot against the pedal53 to instantly release the partitions and protect himself, it beingobserved that his actions would be entirely concealed from the wwould-be robber. Should the cashier be unable to kick the pedal, eitheras a result of his being too far therefrom to reach it without givingnotice to the would-be robber, or as a result of the cashier being shotwithout notice, a remote control lever 55;- 55 on rod 51 is operated byconnecting rod 56 from lever 57 of foot pedal 58. The remote foot pedal58 may be placed at any convenient location in the bank, preferablyoutside the cashiers cage, whereby another person, as a bank guard, mayto operate Whenever the bank is being held up. The remote pedal 58 maybe connected to operate any number of protective partitions at a numberof different windows, thus making it possible to instantly protect everycounter window in the bank 65 simultaneously.

After the emergency is over, it is necessary to separate the partitionsand restore them to the position ready for immediate operation againwhenever the emergency arises. A rod 60 is ro- 70 tatably affixedbetween opposite portions of frame 25 as at 61 and bears a beveled gear62 thereon. This rod 60 has a cable 63 detachably affixed thereto, as at64 in Figure 15, the other end being temporarily affixed to partition 31to pull it down II by any convenient means, as by an eye similar to eye42, and thus through cable 3'7, raise the upper partition 32.

A bracket 65 is permanently ailixed to the underside of ledge 26,whereby to receive an arm 66 projecting from a sleeve 67 of a crankshaft 68 having a gear 69 adapted to be placed in mesh with gear 62 tooperate the rod 60. A handle 70 serves to rotate the crank shaft 68,while a forked bracket 71 projecting from the lower end of sleeve 67over rod 60 serves to hold the gears in mesh while the partitions arebeing separated. When the partitions are fully separated, the bevel ofpoint 46 on pawl 45 permits the pawl to retract and then be pressedagainst the partition 31 to hold it ready for instant operation. Thecrank is then removed, and cable 63 likewise removed, so as to eliminateslowing up the operation of the partitions in an emergency. As will beapparent from the drawings, the operating details may be duplicate oneach side of the cashiers window to provide easier operation, andfurther, a series of windows may be connected for simultaneousoperation, whereby if the cashier at one window is held up, the cashierat a diflerent window may release all the partitions to protectiveposition. 0

ithout further description, it is thought that the novel features andadvantages inherent in the invention will be readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art, it being understood that changes in the form,proportion and minor details of con- 5 struction may be resorted to,without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope asclaimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, whatis claimed is:

l. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame havin an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, and means for bullet proofing said opening,said means comprising an upper protective shield and a lower protectiveshield, said shields being operable across said opening from oppositesides thereof.

2. A safe guard for cashiers cage windows comprising a bullet proofframe, a bullet proof partition across the top and the bottom of saidframe, a grilled business transacting counter opening between said upperand lower partitions, a protective shield concealed behind eachpartition, each shield being movable partly across said opening to meetthe other shield and thereby provide an impregnable protective cagefront.

3. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, and means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other. 1

4. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regular,transaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other, andoperative control means for said shields comprising means tending tomove said shields toward each other to protec- 145 tive position, andtrip means holding said shields. apart.

5. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regular 150:

transaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other, andoperative control means for said shields comprising means tending tomove said shields toward each other to protective position, and tripmeans holding said shields apart, said trip means comprising a pawl inpressure engagement with one of said shields, a lever for withdrawingsaid pawl from engagement to release said shields, and a foot pedal foroperating said lever.

6. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other, andoperative control means for said shields comprising means tending tomove said shields toward each other to protective position, and tripmeans holding said shields apart, said trip means comprising a pawl inpressure engagement with one of said shields, a lever for withdrawingsaid pawl from engagement to release said shields, a foot pedal foroperating said lever, and a connecting rod between said lever and saidfoot pedal whereby said foot pedal may be located at a distance fromsaid cage window.

7. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, and means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other and meansfor operating said shields away from each other to the nonprotectiveposition.

8. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other, and meansfor operating said shields away from each other to the non-protectiveposition comprising a rotatable rod, a cable for temporarily connectingone of said shields to said rod, and crank means for rotating said rod.

9. A safe guard for bank cage windows comprising a bullet proof frame,said frame having an opening therethrough permitting the regulartransaction of business, means for bullet proofing said opening, saidmeans comprising an upper and a lower shield, means connecting saidshields for simultaneous movement toward and from each other, and meansfor operating said shields away from each other to the non-protectiveposition comprising a rotatable rod, a cable for temporarily connectingone of said shields to said rod, crank means for rotating said rod, saidcrank means comprising a gear fixed on said rod, a bracket fixed on acage element, a crank shaft, a gear on said shaft adapted to mesh withsaid rod gear, a crank sleeve about said shaft, an arm on one end ofsaid sleeve receivable in said cage element bracket, and a bracket onthe other end of said sleeve cooperating with said rod.

HENRY BEACH. WILLIAM H. SCHALLER.

